Gerard Butler Steals Eric Bana’s ‘Brilliant’ Role

The bearer of mildly disappointing news this afternoon would have to be ShowBlitz, who inform us that Gerard Butler will be substituting for Eric Bana on the Robert Luketic-helmed heist picture Brilliant. While the latter of those two leads looked ready to star back in late September, this whole enterprise appeared just a little out-of-the-ordinary when news fell silent for roughly five months. And now this mystery has been solved.

Written by Gillian Gorfil, Brilliant centers on “a small-time criminal who joins accomplished thieves in a diamond heist.” Taking past depictions of this basic character into account, I’d argue that such a role might be a better fit for the more “roguish” side of Butler‘s style; that is to say, it certainly stands in opposition to the internal and contemplative work Bana‘s been doing for more than decade. Add in the fact that he and Luketic worked together on The Ugly Truth — which also gives you a better idea of what kind of movie Brilliant may turn out to be — and I can’t question the overall logic of this choice, even if it’s not how I would’ve preferred things to go down. After a female lead is found over the next couple of months, production will kick off in May.